The Experience Of Death
by bobthetree123
Summary: Brennan has a dream that terrifies her, including being shot by her own father. But when she wakes up, she's comforted by her partner...


This was just a really random idea that came to me. Thanks go to my best friend Emily (_Emilijah and the Girls_) Without her this would be crap.

* * *

The darkness enveloped her. She walked down the silent corridor, the darkness becoming more absolute with every step she took. Her hands shook, the silver tray she was holding rattled, the sound echoing around the carpet lined chamber. She could see the door at the end, but she didn't know whether she could make it. Every step she took was harder, every breath becoming shorter.

She had never felt so alone in her life.

The patella's on the tray shuddered. She tried to keep her hand still, but the violent tremors within her continued to shake the dish. She could walk no further. She felt as if she had lead in her boots, weighing down her legs. Her arms were tired, her vision blurring. She crumpled to the ground, lying back against the wall. She took a deep breath, though hardly anything passed through her mouth. She felt as though she were buried alive again, but she forced her mind to stay away from that memory. She blinked multiple times, trying to tie back the tears that had begun to form. Why was she crying? She never cried.

She looked back down to the tray and shrieked in fright. Where a two patella's had once been was now replaced with a skull, eye's empty, dawning. She crawled back from the skull, but nothing changed. It continued to stare at her. She scrambled up, turning to see which way the exit was, but she coud see nothing. She looked back to the skull, a strange light emitting from within it. It now looked like a Halloween jack-o-lantern.

She turned and ran down the hall, unsure of wether she was running towards her original destination or the exit. She didn't care, she just kept running, her feet dragging on the floor, but she kept running, one foot in front of the other. She kept her arms in front of her, planning to use them as a sheild towards an oncoming blow of a wall, or any other form of...what? Magic? She didn't believe in magic.

But then what had happened with the skull?

Her hands smacked into the door. It spun open, and she staggered out into the brilliant light, sucking in deep breaths of air.

*

And then she looked up.

And stared around, her breath catching again.

She was in an open desert, with no sign of civilisation, food or water. She turned behind her.

There was nothing but flat, sandy land.

She twisted around. She had just been in a building! Where was it? Where was _she?_ She walked forward, not sure where she was heading. To find water, maybe? She suddenly felt parched. Where was everyone? Where was Booth? He was with the Rangers, once. He would know how to survive out here.

And then she saw a figure far away in the distance. She ran towards it, not caring whether it was friend or foe. The figure became closer, and she could see that he was wearing a suit, and was tall. Her heart beat faster. She hoped it was Booth.

She reached the man at last. It was Booth! She ran forward to hug him, but he stepped back, out of reach. She stood there, staring blankly at him.

"Where are we?" she asked, hoping he knew exactly where they were and why they were here.

He didn't say a word. He gazed at her, as if seeing right through her. Finally he decided to talk. "We're in the desert."

She clutched her hand to her chest and staggered backwards. This was not Booth. The voice was gravelly, almost robotic. His gaze was too stern to be her Booth. She turned around and ran, but screeched to a stop. 'Booth' was standing only feet away from her. She whipped her head around to where he had been, and saw only heated air. She slowly turned her head back.

"Who are you?" She whispered. "Why am I here?"

"I am Booth, your partner," the man said deeply. "As for your second question, I have no idea."

This was no Booth. She turned aroudn again and ran. The man appeared in front of her again, seemingly trying to stop her. But she kept running, and ran right _through_ him. Not stopping to puzzle over the wonders of the stranger, she ran, her legs flinging over the soft sand. Turning her head, she saw the man still there, staring at her. She ran on.

Soon she had to stop for breath. She bent over, panting. Checking again, she saw the stranger was gone. She turned back around, and screamed. A snake was coming towards her, its body slithering across the ground. She remembered what they said to do, and so she stood still, hoping the reptile would pass her, and let her be. But the creature kept coming, heading straight towards her. She wouldn't have minded, except that this snake was small, thin, faster then all other snakes. She didn't know much about the animals, about the different species, but she knew this snake. She had worked with its bite on a case. It was a coral snake, red, black and yellow. Very venomous. And very fast.

The snake slithered up to her, and seemed to pause. She stayed still, not moving, not breathing. The snake then began to slither over her shoe. She nearly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking in would just slither past her. But then it began to slither around her leg, and up it. She wanted to shake her leg, to flick the hideous creature off. But she knew that moving a muscle could kill her. It stayed wrapped tightly around her leg, and she didn't move, trying to will it to slither down. She could feel the scales on her skin; feel the hiss of the snake's tongue against her legs.

After what seemed like minutes, the snake slithered down, realising that she wasn't good to eat. She stayed still, and then she moved her leg when she thought she snake was gone. But its tail had still been on her shoe. It turned around at the sudden movement, realising the object was alive, and a threat. It whipped its head around and struck out at her thigh, rearing on its tail. She screamed, and tried to step back, but froze. She felt the teeth of the snake bite into her flesh, and she screamed in pain. The snake slithered down and moved off into the blinding sun. She stumbled over.

_Put pressure on the wound. Elevate it. Put pressure on the wound. Elevate it._ She remembered her first aid. There was no cloth to put on it, so instead she ripped off the arm of her thin shirt, and pressed it hard against the wound. She could feel the venom spreading, and tried not to cry out. The white shirt sleeve quickly became red, and she pressed harder. But soon the venom reached her brain, and she rolloed into unconciousness.

*

She awoke to a light darkness. She could feel no pain, and looked at her leg. She then inspected it again. There was no wound, and no evidence that a snake had bit her. She lifted her arm. The sleeve was still intact. She could hear sounds outside...

Outside where?

She sat up, and gazed around. The object that surrounded her was emitting an eerie green glow. Squinting, she could see brown and green circles of different shades covering the material.

She was in an army tent.

She looked around. She was on a bed, well, a stretcher, and was alone. Even though she knew she could be in danger, she peeked out of the tent. She could see the sun rising slowly in the east.

It was empty. She could hear the gunfire, the cries of the wounded, but she could see nothing. It was an empty field, more of a meadow of some sort. She stood up, and moved towards the source of the sound. But she hadn't moved far when eight people ran towards her. Their faces were terrified, stricken into pure fear. She then saw one more person running towards her. His face was not of dread, but of anger, and a sort of hunger. He seemed to be after the other eight people.

And then she saw who it was. Her father was holding a pistol, pointing it to the group which was now huddled beside her. Her face gazed open with realisation. Her father was trying to kill all of these people.

She turned her head slowly, still keeping the corner of her eye on her father, and inspected the crowd. But soon she turned all of her head. She realised she knew every single person in the group. She saw the panicked faces of Angela, Hodgins, Cam, Zack, Sweets, Russ, and who she realised to be her mother. Her mother was there too – running away from her husband.

This could not be real.

Last of all she saw Booth. She had never seen him scared before, and it was an unnerving experience. His handsome face was pulled back, his eyes wide, his mouth open in terror.

She turned her head back to the murderer. He wanted to kill these people. It was clear in his face. She had no idea why. But she needn't have worried. He shouted out his answer.

"All I ever wanted to do was to talk!" he screamed, obviously talking to her. "But you never listened. Always called Booth, always called the FBI on me. You never listened!" he was turning hysterical. "Your friends always got in the way! And now, because of that, they're going to pay."

"But why mum?" she replied, the hurt straining in her voice. "Why try to attack mum? And Russ? What did they ever do to you?"

"They left!" he cried. "Russ believed me, but he never wanted to be with me! Your mother left you! I'll never forgive her for that! Don't you see? I'm doing this for us!"

The fear gripped in her heart. She remembered those words, disoriented and vague, at the Checker Box. She never payed attention to them, but after those words Booth had been shot. It seemed like Deja Vu.

"That doesn't mean you have to kill them!" her voice was breaking. "We can talk."

"It's too late for that now," he said, his voice back to normal. His face turned sad. And then the anger took over again, and he raised the gun. "This is for finding the evidence against me, for sending me to that horrible prison." His finger flew to the trigger, and she saw the phalanges move in unison as he pulled. She didn't see the bullet, or who it hit, but she knew by the scream. It was terrible, ripping through the air. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Cam fall down. She didn't know whether it had been a fatal blow, but she didn't care. She knew what her father's plans were. He would take down each person she loved, until she finally gave in, finally agreed to talk to him, and finally agreed to love him. But she could never love him. He was a murderer, a theif.

But she couldn't hurt her friends anymore.

She heard the gun again, too late before she could move. This time she heard the scream of Sweets, the trembling cry as the bullet hit him. Again she didn't turn her head. She didn't want the image of her dying friends etched into her mind.

"Sweetie!" she heard Angela cry. "You have to do something!"

She made up her mind. She ran forward, planning to grab the gun from her father. But he had been planning to fire again, to hit another one of her friends. She saw the look on his face as she stepped forward instead.

She heard the gunshot before she felt it.

It tore into her chest, ripping the skin. She had been shot at before, but she had never known what it was like to be actually shot.

A deep red smear appeared on her shirt. She looked down, and saw the gaping hole. She saw the horrified look on her father's face as she crumpled to the ground, her hands uselessly coming up for protection. She felt fire spread through her. She was trying to decide which was worse; the snake bite or the gunshot; but she decided they were both the same. She saw Booth and Angela rush over. Her father tried to but the others pulled him back. She was glad. But she didn't need care. Cam and Sweets were shot too.

"Cam..." she voiced her thoughts.

"Your mum and Hodgins are taking care of them, sweetie," she said softly. Her eyes were closing, and she struggled to keep them awake, to talk to her best friend.

"Booth," she whispered. His face was fear, but not the same kind as before. Fear that he would lose his partner. He bent down, and placed his hands over her chest, trying to stop the blood flow. She felt the pain of the pressure, and she cried out loud. Booth removed his hands slightly but she whispered to him. "Keep them on," she said, knowing it could save her. But she could feel in her heart that this was a fatal bullet.

Booth renewed the pressure, and he storked her face, and then gently bent down to kiss her. But she was sinking into darkness, and she tried to scream, to call out Booth's name. But the black was taking over, imbedding into her brain. She struggled against it, but her fight was useless.

She knew she was dead.

*

She awoke with a cry, cold sweat covering her face. She sat up, feeling her thin nightgown stick to her sweaty back. She shivered, feeling cold all over. She patted herself, first her leg, and then her chest.

There was no evidence of pain.

She breatehd a sigh of relief, though it was hard. It had all seemed to real. The darkness, the desert, the snake, her father, the gunshot.

Her breathing turned staggered again, and she fought to control the images in her mind, to bring them back to reality. _It was just a dream_, she whispered, trying to reassure herself.

She realised that Booth had awoken to her cry. He rolled over in the bed, and gazed at her. "Are you okay?" he whispered, concern written all over his face.

"Just a b-bad dream," she whispered, her voice trembling. He reached out to stroke her, and she felt to goosepumps on her skin. He rubbed her arm, trying to soothe her. After a few minutes her breathing calmed down, though she was still terrified.

"What happened?" he asked, his rich voice imprinting in her mind. It calmed her, knowing she was safe.

"I was...alone, in a dark building. There was a patella...kneecap" she added for his sake. "...On a silver tray. It changed into a skull. I ran out of the building, and was in the middle of the desert. There was a...person." She decided to leave out who the person resembled. "They talked to me, tried to stop me from finding food and watr but I ran away. I stopped, and a snake came and....it bit me," she finished, whispering.

"What type?" he asked. She knew that he would know many of the snakes – he would have to know which were posionous in the jungle.

"A Coral." He seemed surprised that she knew what it was. "It slithered up my leg." She shivered, remembering the feel of the reptile on her skin. "It hurt. It felt like fire..." She rememeberd the feel of the bite, the movement of the snake striking. She shuddered. "And then...I felt like I'd died. The pain was unbearable..."

He nodded. The symptoms sounded familair.

"And then I woke up. It seemed as though I hadn't been bitten. I was in a field, and then Cam, Angela, Hodgins, Sweets, Zack, Russ," she took a deep breath, "and my mother came. They were scared." She saw the look on his face. His wonderment as she said 'mother.' "Then my father came," she was struggling. "He...had a gun. He started screaming, saying that the others would pay because I wouldn't talk to him. He began..." she breathed, "to shoot off people. He shot Cam, then Sweets. I ran forward, and he shot me."

Her voice caught in her throat. "The pain. The bullet in me." She loked up into Booth's eyes. "I knew I was going to die. They surrounded me. I... I was scared, Booth."

His eyes were sympathetic. He sat up, and wrapped his thick arms around her. She buried her face into his chest, and she realised she had been crying. She let the tears flow, staining his shirt. He kept hugging her, and she felt protected, and knew that she would be fine.

He murmured into her ear, the lustrous sounds filling her with warmth. "You're fine now, Bones. You're fine."

She knew she would be.

Booth was here.

Everything would be fine.

* * *

Please review and tell me what you think. Hopefully it wasn't too bad. I wanted to make it exciting and freaky as well. So hopefully that happened.

Hope the ending wasn't too sissy.

Thanks for reading


End file.
